©2015 Scott D. Wilson
“Life is a foreign language; all men mispronounce it” ― Christopher Morley
Depending on your view language is either mankind’s greatest invention or its greatest gift. Language enables us to share and transmit ideas, feelings and experiences in creative ways. We take it for granted as we use it daily, but language is one of our most powerful tools. Language has been used to change countless lives and even to forge the events of history itself. Language is the programming code for our minds. The way we speak reveals a lot about our upbringing and our background. Our speech also shows the inner workings of our mind and thoughts.
If you close your eyes and imagine then you can likely think of countless examples of speaking patterns that you have encountered throughout your life:
- the clipped speech of a police officer who has pulled you over
- the colourful drawl and homespun words of a rural western American
- the loud and vibrant language of a passionate evangelical preacher
- the rough profanity-laced dialogue of a hard-living miner
- the carefully measured words of a suit-and-tie executive speaking to the board
- the angry venom of a native New York cabbie who just got cut off by another driver.
- the gentle tones and soft language of a counsellor consoling a grieving spouse
- the serious and grave dialect of criminal judge handing down a severe sentence
My point is that words themselves and how they are delivered vary immensely and carry with them more than mere information. In a sense, we paint a picture with our language. We study the ancient cave drawings in the hope to understand prehistoric communications. We know that our development of words literally took the place of those early cave paintings.
Yes, we use language to convey ideas, images, feeling and experience. In essence, we use speech to share a piece of our lives or a moment of our living. Ah, but allow me to expand the vocabulary of this discussion. The deaf use words but they convey them through gestures and signs. The blind read but they must use texture and form. So communication is not limited to words on page or the oration from our mouths. Of course we have all heard of body language but that is not really what I am talking about here.
I am talking about the very dialogue of our daily living. Every day we get up and go about living our lives. How we do this communicates to universe itself and to others. The vocabulary of our actions speaks volumes to our character and our attitude. We may quietly whisper our gratitude through the act of prayer and meditation. We may loudly proclaim our anger and frustration through our surliness or sullen attitude. We might chat our joy brightly through our beaming smile and happy demeanor. Perhaps we speak slowly and deliberately with our careful behaviour and cautious nature. Or perchance we might zip off the quick staccato of our nervousness.
What I am saying here is that our behaviour speaks as truly as our words. Our lives are like that cave wall thousands of years ago. We paint upon it our communications to others and to the world around us. I am asking you, reader, to consider what kind of message you are sending with your life. Is it a deliberate and positive message that others will want to read and understand? Or possibly are you randomly scrawling on the walls of your lifetime? Today, you have the chance to become aware of the messages that you have been sending. Look back and try to read the words that you have been living. Do they contain hope? Love? Trust? Fear? Bitterness? Despair?
Life is meant to be deliberately lived. If we intend to succeed we need to look not only at what we are saying to others with our words but also what we are saying with our demeanor, our attitude, our dress, our deportment… our entire lives! Make sure your whole message is worth hearing!
“In the end, we'll all become stories.” ― Margaret Atwood
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